Prosecutors began Tuesday to sum up their case against two Libyans accused of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, as the marathon trial in the Netherlands draws to a close, reported AFP.

Deputy prosecutor Alastair Campbell began by asking for two of the charges -- conspiracy to murder and breach of aviation security -- against the men to be dropped, said the agency.

Only one charge would remain, that of murder. It carries an automatic life sentence.

"In my submission," he told the court, "the Crown has proved the case against each of the accused beyond reasonable doubt."

The prosecution case was largely circumstantial, he admitted, but "from a number of sources which when taken together provide a corroborative case."

Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah and Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, both Libyans, are accused of planting a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded on December 21 1988.

According to the BBC online, the trial could now be over within weeks after defense teams for the accused caused surprise, on Monday, by saying they would offer no further evidence.

The decision by advocates for Megrahi and Fhimah came after the Syrian Government refused to hand over evidence, which was considered vital to the defense case, said the BBC.

It added that the prosecution has called 230 witnesses to try to prove beyond all reasonable doubt the guilt of Megrahi and Fhima.

There have been no witnesses who saw the bomb being placed on the doomed jumbo; instead, the prosecution has relied on a series of coincidences which it says when put together prove the guilt of the two men, said the BBC.

The trial opened on May 3 last year at Camp Zeist, a former US base in the Netherlands where a special court has been set up under Scottish law -- (Several Sources)